“I’m the new king in here,” said  Raul Rosas Jr. after signing into UFC as the youngest fighter in company’s history at 17. Guess what? He is still living up to this goal even at 20 with new records to break. He is not just another young UFC bantamweight fighter with a 10-1-0 record. With an undefeated fight winning streak till now he aspires to break a mega record – the one that belongs to Jon Jones.

Fighters such as Maycee Barber or Muhammad Mokaev tried to break Jones’ record of being the youngest champ but faced a time crunch because of their age. Unlike them, ‘El Nino Problema’ does not have the time running behind him and catch up before he gets a chance to break the record. He debuted at 18 and signed the UFC contract at the age of 17. By the time he was 20, he defeated Aori Qileng at UFC 306 for his third back-to-back UFC win.

So when Ariel Helwani put down some specific, Rosas Jr was not scared, because he still had time in his favor to break Jones’ record. Helwani asked him, “By the way we have had several people along the years who wanted to be the youngest champion in UFC history. I still feel that you are in a full position to try and beat Jon Jones’ record. Do you know how much time you have left?”

Rosas replied, “Yeah I have three years I am trying to do it sooner you know. I still believe that I can break it imagine like, keep concentrating on what’s ahead of me. And then getting the job done and if another opportunity presents itself like this, like for example like the Rob Font moment, like that would be a big jump up. And then it will get me closer to the belt. So eventually I feel like I will make it.”

This is when the MMA reporter decided to display some specific digits and said that the young fighter has 3  years and 106 days left to beat the record.  Rosas said “Yeah it’s what I’m thinking like maybe this year hopefully if this year, I at least get ranked top 15, that’ll put me in a good position to break the record.”

‘Bones’ had become the youngest champ in UFC history at 23 years old. So Rosas Jr still has roughly 3 years to break this record as he is 20 right now.

He is towards the record-breaking moment as the Brazilian is looking for his next victory against Vince Morales at UFC Mexico City at the Arena CDMX this  Saturday. ‘Vandetta’ has a power-packed training team with former champ Aljamain Sterling being one of the eminent team members helping him prepare for the fight. “I got the bantamweight champion in the room,” Morales told Home of Fight. “I’m getting countless rounds on him. Aljo comes through, I’m getting rounds on him.”

However, Morales was cut off from the UFC roster back in 2022 and then returned in 2024 but since then, lost two fights in a row. He suffered his most recent defeat at UFC Vegas 102 against Elijah Smith. So this fight against Rosas might be his last chance to redeem himself. However what about Rosas Jr? Well he might not be so nervous about this fight since he has even beaten and won against death before!

Throwback: When Raul Rosas Jr cheated death

Before his fight against Aori Qileng, Rosas Jr had a video made by UFC about his family and childhood. However, this is not just a story about an ordinary childhood filled with wonder and playtime. It was during a conversation with his family that it was revealed that a 7-year-old Rosas Jr was on the verge of death when his appendix burst.

He risked losing his life majorly because the appendix bursting remained undetected. Why? Well because the young man never complained about his excruciating stomach pain to his family. However, his father noticed something was amiss and took little Rosas to the hospital. The 7-year-old was then rushed to the ER as he said, “They took me to a city that was an hour and a half away in an ambulance. I remember waking up, and I think I was supposed to die within a few hours.”

However, fate had different plans for him and he survived. Rosas Jr was so strong that within a few weeks of recovery, he took part in an MMA contest.  He said, “After being in the hospital for a few weeks with my appendix, we went to a tournament where my father was going to compete. When I got there and saw kids my age signing up, I told them to sign me up too. Because I wanted to compete. I felt no pain; I was just excited to do something I liked.” 

All in all, defeating Rosas would not be a piece of cake for anyone. On top of that he is so close to breaking Jones’ record. Do you think he will be able to do it?